Gary Shaw isn't a guy who MMA fans are particularly fond of. His approach to running an MMA promotion with EliteXC was iffy at best and he clearly put too many eggs in the Kimbo Slice basket. But his insight into certain matters is still of some value.

So when the FightHubTV.com guys caught up with Gary, his insight into attempted dealings with M-1 Global and Fedor Emelianenko is worth something.

The juiciest quote (transcribed by MMA Mania):

I did try several times to get Fedor to come to EliteXC, but the numbers they were asking, there's no fighter who was worth that. I wasn't willing to meet their demands. I thought M-1 was very difficult to deal with. It wasn't only Fedor. They wanted to be the co-promoters and the managers and they wanted you to put on so many Russian fighters of theirs on every show. Nobody's worth that price. Maybe if Fedor would have had the right management from the beginning, he might have been in the UFC and been a huge star.

While there are many subjects on which Gary could speak where I'd call BS, this seems pretty well in line with anything else people have said about attempts to work with M-1 and Fedor.